I am writing on behalf of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).

NYPIRG is New York State’s largest student-directed research and advocacy organization. Our principal areas of concern are student rights issues such as environmental protection, higher education affordability, consumer rights and protection, government reform, and voter registration.

We are a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group established to effect policy reforms while training students and other New Yorkers to be advocates in society. In the next few weeks, we are focusing on our voter registration and mobilization campaign.

As we know, 2016 is a presidential election year, and there has been much talk about each candidate and what they bring to the stage. This is the time where we decide how our next four years will look like under new leadership.

Students and young voters are one of the least active voting blocs in elections throughout the country. Being that this is a presidential election year, students and young voters are urged to go out and vote in numbers if they want their issues to be at the forefront of the political discussion.

The student voice must be represented this year.

Our plans for this semester are to get as many students registered, motivated, and mobilized as possible so students show up at the polls and cast their ballot on Election Day.

Along with the Student Political Society (SPS), we will be tabling all week in the Campbell Student Union lobby from March 14 to 18, so students can register to vote with us before the final date to register, which is Friday, March 25. We will also be hosting a get out the vote campaign, encouraging students to go out and vote in primaries on April 19.

We cannot do this, though, without the help and participation from the student body on campus. We encourage students that are not registered, or who need to update their address so they can vote here in Buffalo, to register with us at one of our tables, or visit us in our office in the Campbell Student Union, Room 419.

If students have any questions about registering to vote, the election process, or questions about the candidates, please visit us in our office or at one of our tables. Or send an email to [email protected].

Pedro Gonzalez

Sophomore

NYPIRG Intern

Voter Registration Project Leader